CAMPAIGN WORKING, CAN DO MORE

In an effort to educate Arizona residents about the horrible impact
methamphetamine has on people, lives and our community, a 30-minute
documentary, "Crystal Darkness," was shown Tuesday on virtually every
television station across our state.

"Crystal Darkness" organizers hoped the effort would initiate
conversations about meth and encourage current and former meth users
to seek treatment.

The program, which has already aired in eight other markets in the
Southwest as well as Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, was especially relevant
in Arizona.

According to the 2006 Arizona Youth Survey, 4.3 percent of Arizona's
youth ages 13 to 17 have tried meth - significantly higher than the
national average. Not only that, but meth is the No. 1 crime problem
in Arizona with 75 percent of property and violent crimes and 65
percent of child abuse cases linked to meth use.

While we applaud the efforts of "Crystal Darkness" to shed a necessary
light on meth use in Arizona, a long-term public awareness effort in
our state is needed. In fact, such an effort was identified as a key
missing component by the Governor's Methamphetamine Task Force.

Soon after that recommendation, the Arizona Meth Project was started
to provide a public education and awareness campaign focused on
stopping first-time meth use among Arizona's teens and young adults.

Through various outreach efforts over the past 12 months - including
the Not Even Once Summer Youth Pledge where young people across the
state pledged never to try meth, the Not Even Once Meth Poster contest
and our participation in the KASW-TV (Channel 61) documentary "Descent
Into Meth" - we have reached tens of thousands of young Arizonans.

Our ongoing prevention and education campaign is a cost-effective way
to curtail use. In fact, our anti-meth campaign has shown incredible
results in Montana, where it was first launched in 2005. There, meth
use among teens has declined by 45 percent, meth-related crime has
dropped 62 percent, and workers testing positive for meth have
declined by 72 percent - the largest drop in the country.

And the public is taking notice. Among the more than 600 e-mail
messages and hundreds of phone calls that have poured into the Arizona
Meth Project are some very poignant and personal accounts. One young
woman, who admits that her brother is a meth addict, wrote in an
e-mail, "I don't want to just be another voice that says something
needs to be done.

I need to get out there and do something about it." In another e-mail,
a mother writes, "I love the fact that you are using cold, hard facts
about this drug! You are not sugar coating anything ... My kids are
now scared to death of this drug and we have talked more about drugs
in these last few weeks than we ever have. I only have you to thank
for that."

Although we continue to receive positive feedback from the community
regarding the Arizona Meth Project's efforts, we have come to a point
where we need the public's help in order to continue the project's
good work.

We are currently appealing to the public for donations so that we can
show the third phase of advertising, which will demonstrate how an
individual's meth habit affects the people around them - their friends
and families.

While the first two phases of ads showed the physical effects of meth
use - rotting teeth, bloody scabs and a trip to the hospital emergency
room - the third phase shows how meth destroys the relationships with
friends and loved ones.

From the young man who pimps out his girlfriend for drug money to an
enraged addict stealing from his mother's wallet and slapping her
across the face, these graphic and heart-wrenching images underscore
the fact that meth destroys many lives - not just the life of the user.

If these messages are to continue to be heard across Arizona on every
medium available, the Arizona Meth Project must raise $2.5 million.
Currently, we have raised about 10 percent of the funds needed for the
next phase of ads. We are thankful to the businesses and organizations
for stepping forward and recognizing the need for the Arizona Meth
Project to continue its work.

But we need more.

We have made it easy for anyone to donate - go to www.arizonamethproject.org
and click on the "Take Action" tab, which will direct you to the
donations page. Together, we can make a huge difference and overcome
the state's meth crisis.

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and Maricopa County Supervisor
Don Stapley are co-chairmen of the Arizona Meth Project.